Is It Safe to Downplay Work Experience for a Lower Salary? Seeking Advice on Legal Risks

My brother wants to reduce his work experience and salary. Is it okay to show less work experience, or will it cause any problems for him? He currently has 11 years of experience but, due to personal reasons, he wants to accept a lower salary. Consequently, he has left his job to position himself as unemployed, hoping this change will help him secure a new job with a lower salary.

Concerns About Misrepresenting Work Experience

Given his 11 years of experience in the software field, if he pursues a new job, he may be offered management positions. To target software development roles, he is considering showing 7 years of work experience instead. However, he is concerned about potential legal implications of misrepresenting his experience, such as issues with visa applications, onsite opportunities (he has traveled onsite multiple times), employee verification checks, or any other related concerns.

Could someone provide insights on whether reducing his experience to 7 years could lead to legal problems in his career, particularly regarding visas, onsite assignments, and employee verification? Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks & Regards,
Janavi

Can I please suggest a simple and easy solution? A solution that won't make you guys think about whether this is legal or that is legal or not?

A Practical Approach to Resume Adjustments

Why not make the resume factual but inform future recruiters that your brother is not interested in roles that match his experience. Instead, he is seeking junior roles for personal reasons! Doesn't this make more sense?

Sure, you may get some responses stating that your brother is overqualified and thus not suitable for the job. But, at least in those cases where he does get selected, he won't be looking over his shoulder or worrying whether his new employer will find out or not.

The Importance of Honesty in Professional Relationships

And the critical feature of my response is not whether his employer will find out or not. The truth is that your brother KNOWS! So, any new professional relationship he will commence will essentially be built upon a foundation of lies and fibs! And, believe me, that is no way to live.

Instead, be upfront about your terms and conditions. You don't owe anyone an explanation for why you are doing what you are doing. And, when you do find an organization that is okay with an overqualified person in an assignment, you won't have to worry about whether or not he will get busted by the BGCs, etc...

This is my suggestion. If it isn't the general direction that your brother or you are looking forward to, then I suppose you wait for others to respond.

Either way, all the best to your brother!

Gaurav has given you sound advice based on ethics. While applying for jobs, your brother should enclose a cover letter clearly explaining the situation—that he is more interested in software development jobs rather than managerial positions. However, he may find himself working for managers who are younger and less experienced than himself, which could pose a problem.

Thanks, Gaurav, After your suggestion, I too feel my brother should showcase his full 11 years of experience upfront and mention his job in the development field. Also, I would like to know if he can mention his admission to the Executive MBA program as the reason for accepting a lower salary job, as he intends to focus on his Executive MBA studies.

Thanks & Regards, Jananvi

In your latest post, it appears that your brother does not want managerial positions as they may not give him enough time to pursue his MBA. It is always prudent and appreciated if candidates are frank in their statements about why they are seeking certain types of jobs.

Thank you.

Gaurav Sareen & Simhan have covered the ethical aspects of your query very well. However, I think there are glaring fallacies/contradictions in the situation of your brother—as you mentioned. You mention that he is not interested in managerial roles/jobs—then why is he doing an MBA? With 11 years of IT experience, I am sure your brother ought to know that most software companies have different streams for those wishing to pursue/stick to the core software development line and for those wishing to get into managerial roles. Then why is he contemplating reducing his experience? While granting that it's his wish to focus on what line/role he wants to choose in his career, maybe it would be better if you mention the reasons why he wants to get into lower-level jobs—when the general/logical step for anyone would be to progress higher in their career. Maybe he feels that this is the only solution for whatever problem/limitation he has—based on his narrow viewpoint? Just give this a thought.

Once you discuss the actual problem rather than the conclusion arrived at by your brother, it's very likely the members can show other ways to tackle the issue/problem.

A Few Queries Here:

1. Is your brother an introvert—not liking to interact with others?
2. Were there any specific situations/experiences at his work or home that led him to come to this conclusion—meaning this being the 'result/consequence' of an experience rather than the 'cause' for his viewpoint?
3. This line is the reason for my comment about the actual problem: '...left his job so as he can show himself unemployed and which can help him to get a new job of low salary.' With 11 years of experience and assuming you are into HR yourself, you can realize how tough it is to get a job when he/she is not working—needlessly creating the scope for lots of justifications and a very high possibility of faking/lying. This is what, I think, Gaurav Sareen & Simhan were trying to point out from the ethical angle.

Regards,
TS

You are right; no one wants to go down the ladder in their career, but there are circumstances when we have to make such decisions. My brother too is going through a bad phase of life (marital problems), which has significantly impacted his life. Consequently, he has decided to leave his job. The entire family supports his decision, as we want him to overcome this difficult phase.

We understand that finding a job, especially with higher experience, can be challenging. Therefore, he is opting to pursue an Executive MBA (EMBA). He plans to show less experience to potentially secure a job with a lower salary, allowing him to focus on his MBA studies. This decision is aimed at improving his prospects for a better job in the future, albeit not as good as his previous one.

Given his personal struggles, I am concerned about any potential legal implications if he misrepresents his experience. Could this decision lead to legal issues on top of his existing personal challenges?

Thanks & Regards,
Janavi

Had you provided the complete information initially, we could have avoided speculating on the reasons and given a more precise response. He need not specify the exact problems but can mention he has family issues and therefore does not want roles that require international travel. Additionally, he might express his desire to pursue an EMBA to prepare for better roles in the future. It is far better to be open than to fabricate stories and face serious consequences later.

Simhan has mentioned it right—'...far better to be open than tell lies and have to face serious consequences later.'

In a single line: "Only Truth can always stand alone—a lie ALWAYS needs an accomplice." The irony and funny part of life is that we always think we can handle 'future' problems/consequences that arise out of choices/decisions made NOW, when we don't even know what the future can actually bring up.

Practical vs. Legal Problems

You are focusing on the 'legal' problems, while we are pointing out the PRACTICAL problems. Coming to your brother's situation, suggest going through the thread mentioned below—with minor changes, the suggestions in it should work for him too.

https://www.citehr.com/406243-hiding...-employer.html

If you have any further queries, don't hesitate to post them here. Convey our All the Best to your brother.

Regards,
TS